The present invention is an improvement to subject matter of previous commonly-owned applications and patents including U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,412,658; 6,622,064, 6,672,341; 6,615,881; D465,810; D461,080; and D485,310 and Ser. No. 10/755,574 (filed Jan. 12, 2004), Ser. No. 10/437,085 (filed May 13, 2003), Ser. No. 10/848,273 (filed May 18, 2004), Ser. No. 10/274,514 (filed Oct. 18, 2002), Ser. No. 10/716,317 (filed Nov. 18, 2003); Ser. No. 29/192,696 (filed Oct. 28, 2003), the contents of which are also incorporated by reference herein for all purposes.
As addressed in the above applications and patent, historically the cosmetics industry has afforded consumers a broad variety of choices for colors (including tones, shades or hues) and effects. In the typical scenario, these products are pre-packaged according to a predetermined fixed amount of different colors or effects. The products are then ordinarily displayed to reveal a spectrum of a fixed number of colors. However, because of manufacturing and other practical limitations, point of sale displays only afford a finite number of selections for the consumer. Consequently, the consumer's choice of color will be limited by present availability or supply of a particular color choice, and also particularly by the specific colors chosen for sale in advance by the manufacturer. The consumer is afforded no practical opportunity to custom blend a color selection.
In view of the foregoing, a need has developed for a custom cosmetic color selection system, pursuant to which a consumer or other customer (such as an intermediate retailer or wholesaler) can interact with the supplier to select a specific color, effect or both, to blend the resulting cosmetic product at or near the time of selection (e.g. on site at a point of sale location, or remotely such as by mail order, phone order or internet purchase).
Furthermore, there is a need for a custom cosmetic color selection system that allows for the customization of cosmetic products to dispensed for a variety of different applications. Such products include: moisturizing strips, dental bleaching, hair removal, spot removal, stretch mark fading strip, expression line/wrinkle minimizer, lip plumper patch, acne treatment, scar minimizer, hair bleaching, cellulite reducer, artistic/photograph/text image transfers in edible or non-edible formulations, cosmeceutical sticks, eye crayons, lip pencils, cheek stain sticks, lipsticks, concealer sticks, foundation sticks, perfume sticks, sunscreen stick, deodorant stick, aromatherapy candles, hair removal sticks, shimmer sticks, scrub sticks, antibacterial towelette, moisturizing towelette, dental bleaching towelette, hair removal towelette, bronzer towelette, body shimmer towelette, hair shimmer/color towelette, makeup remover towelette, nail polish remover, acne treatment towelette, hair bleaching towelette, deodorant towelette, perfume towelette, sun protection towelette, exfoliation towelette or anti-aging towelette, eye shadows, lip shimmer, face shimmer powder, face powder foundation, body powder shimmer, brow powder, face blushers, bronzers, eye liners, body paint, facial soap bars, body soap bars, sliced soap, pliable soap, a brush, an applicator, sponge, puff, patch, lash curler, comb, tweezers, clippers may be customized by size, design, material, or coloration.